Alexander Davison (1750-1829) led an adventurous life outside the North East, being Nelson's prize agent as well as his confidential friend for 23 years. He knew of Nelson's liaison with Emma Hamilton, though Fanny Nelson did not.

Both ladies wrote to him, and Fanny' s undying love for Nelson is evinced in no fewer than 72 letters to Davison. After Trafalgar, Emma wrote to Davison: 'He that I loved more than life is gone... nothing gives me a gleam of comfort but the hope that I shall soon follow.'

Davison is buried in Felton church under an elaborate Gothic canopy. His Northumberland home was Swarland Park, north of Felton, where he planted trees to represent the positions of ships at the Battle of the Nile. On the old Alnwick-Morpeth road not far from here stands an obelisk which Davison erected in 1807 commemorating Nelson 'in memory of private friendship'.